Disclaimer: I own Zacathia/Zac, Alex, Steven, Marie, the currently nameless villain, and all other unknowns. Everyone else belongs to Disney/Pixar.
A/N: Syndrome'sGirl: By the line "She was glad Mirage wasn't here, it would have been too much for her" I meant that Zacathia was glad Mirage wasn't alive to see one of her son's kidnapped. To understand this story fully, you're going to have to read 'Friends Forever' the story this one is sequel to.
Zacathia drove down the street, completely ignoring the line of cars trailing behind her. They could pass her if they wanted, she didn't care. They could honk their horns till the cows came home for all she cared, she was more worried about finding Alex. It had been two day's and he still hadn't come home. Steven was near hysterics, and Buddy wasn't far off either.
"Alexander Pine where the hell are you?" She muttered to herself, looking at the street. She noticed a shady-looking man watching her, but didn't pay much attention to him. She wasn't looking for shady-looking people she was looking for Alex.
She jumped as her phone rang. It had the spider-man theme song as a ring, something that still hadn't gone out of style.
"Hello?" She asked, picking it up off the seat beside her.
"Find him yet?" It was Buddy. He called her every ten to fifteen minutes, making sure she didn't forget to tell him if she did find him.
"No, and for the seventh time, stop calling. I won't forget to call if I find him. You calling may actually make me miss him passing me." She pointed out.
"Fine." Buddy said, hanging up. She knew not to get mad at him, he was only worried about his son. It was actually a good thing he was this worried, it meant that he'd be there for his newest children. She had been worried that he would go back to his old ways upon being re-awakened, but so far so good.
She looked outside the window, to see the shady-looking man standing right in front of her stopped car. She had stopped for a red light, and he hadn't finished crossing the street. In fact, he had stopped walking altogether right in front of her vehicle and was staring at her. Zacathia couldn't see his face, it was hidden in shadows from his hood.
Sticking her head out her window, she looked at him madly.
"Get a move on!" She said, annoyed.
"No. You need to talk to me." He said, walking up to her and opening the passenger side door to her car. She looked at him as he sat down and closed the door, just as the light changed green.
"Are you going to go or not?" He asked, waving his hand at the line of cars behind her. "You might want to call your husband, Buddy, and get him to meet you at home." The man finished. Not knowing what to say, She listened to him. He had guts, and she knew nothing about him. For all she knew, he could know where Alex was.
The man who, two days prior had kidnapped Alexander Pine, sat in the plush car thinking to himself.
'I will tell them. The plan will work.'
You are going to mess up. You always mess up.
Yes always. You have to be careful.
Very careful, more careful than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
The plan must work.
'The plan will work.'
You are unsure.
Being unsure will be the downfall of the plan.
You must be sure of the plan.
Without surety, the plan will fall.
'The plan will work.
The man looked up as the car he was in pulled into a long underground tunnel. It was lit on the sides of the tunnel by little glowing balls of halogen light.
"Buddy will be in the conference room when we get there, if you will follow me." Zacathia said to the man.
"I will follow you." He said, nodding slightly. Zacathia started down the hall, and the man followed Zacathia closely, not wanting to give her a way to escape and leave him lost in the halls. Even though he wouldn't get lost, he never got lost.
"Right in here." She said, opening a door and standing aside to let him in.
"Ladies first." He said, waving his hand to let her go. He wasn't stupid. She shrugged and walked in with him following behind her.
The man walked in after Zacathia, bowing as he entered the room.
You need not bow
this isn't the dojo
He ignored the voices of his other personalities, coming out of his bow and followed Zacathia to a chair. He didn't sit, rather stood waiting for everyone else to sit. He knew the guards wouldn't, but there was another man standing at the head of the long table, Buddy Pine.
"Sit." The man said to Buddy. Buddy looked cautiously at the man, but sat down anyway. "Tell the guards to leave, what is to be said may not enter ears other than ours." The man said to Buddy, who shook his head.
"The guards can't talk, they won't say anything to anyone." He said. Zacathia touched his arm, and shook her head.
"It's okay Buddy, do what he says." She told him, love in her eye's. He looked back at her lovingly, and waved his hand shortly at the guards, who left through the back door.
"If all is well, I will begin." The man said, getting their attention.
"We're listening." Buddy said, looking at the man.
"What do you know about the disappearance of Alexander Pine?" Zacathia asked worriedly.
"I know much about his disappearance. But I will tell you little, for my own reasons. First things first, I know your names and everything about you. There is little you can tell me about yourselves I do not already know, but you know nothing of me. I will tell you little of myself, also for my own reasons. My name is Jason Multiver, but to some I'm known as Outcast. Do not bother looking my true name up in the city files, for it sin't in there. As my alias suggests, I am known and recognized by few. You will find nothing about me. I have Alexander at a secure facility, and he will reside there until my demands are met." Outcast said, looking blankly at Buddy and Zacathia.
"Jason Multiver... where have I heard that name before?" Buddy mumbled to himself, scratching the stubble that had been growing on his face over the last few day's. He hadn't bothered to shave, too busy trying to find Alex.
Outcast smiled.
The plan is falling into place
Tell them more
Yes, so he will remember.
But first get him alone.
"I will leave now. Do not bother trying to stop me, I will get away." Outcast said, smiling while he walked away. "If you try and follow me it will only do yourself harm." he finished, not looking back at them. He knew Zacathia would listen to him, but Outcast also knew Buddy well enough to know that he would follow him to find out more.
Outcast was out of the complex when he noticed Buddy walking behind him.
"What did I tell you?" Outcast said, stopping and turning around quickly.
"I need to ask you something."
"You already have." Outcast smiled, he loved twisting words around.
"huh?.. Oh. You know what I mean!"
Outcast didn't say anything, simply waited.
"How old are you?" Buddy asked.
"127 years old. It's one of my powers to stay looking this old until I am killed." Outcast said, smiling at the expected look of awe on Buddy's face.
"Did I know you, when I was younger?"
"Which time?"
"The first time."
"Yes."
"I thought so. Why?"
"Your father and stepmother, whom you were living with at the time, were killed in an explosion, caused by gas. You had been in Pre-K at the time and didn't find out until you got home. You were put into foster care until they could find your mother, and I was your foster parent. You had been four at the time." Outcast said.
"Take me to Alex, so that I know he's okay." Buddy asked, worry in his eye's. Outcast recognized it as the same worry he had seen all those years ago...
"If you wish, but you can't talk to him, he's very ill." Outcast said, looking away. "I need you to climb onto my back. It is the only way for you to come with me." Buddy looked skeptically at Outcast, but listened.
Outcast ran away, carrying Buddy piggyback-style, to a hidden complex that no one remembered.
Buddy felt oddly weird. The last time he had seen someone run this fast, it had been one of the Incredibles, Dash. God could that kid run! But he had been no problem with his sisters power, force fields. Still, running at sub-sonic speeds was cool.
They took a lot of turns, probably unneccesary usually. It was probably to disorient Buddy, which it was. Usually he was very good at remembering what way's they went, but he was totally lost now.
Not trusting himself to be able to speak without throwing up, Buddy simply stayed quiet and held on for dear life.
Smiling, Outcast went inside and put the invisi-field back up. He didn't want anyone to find this place, he liked his anonymity. It allowed him to do anything.
Three Days Later
Zacathia lay on her bed, worrying. She hadn't gone out, hadn't sent guards out, and hadn't done anything since Buddy had gone missing. She knew who he was with, she just didn't know where. The tracking device in his shoes weren't being picked up. Which could only mean one of two things, that he had deactivated them, or that Outcast charecter had some sort of powers that blocked the signal.
The only thing that had gotten her out of bed was to go to the bathroom. Otherwise the guards, knowing her worry, brought food to her room.
Steven had come to live in the complex with her, having seen how bad she was doing handling Buddy's disappearance. Yes, he himself had been stricken with worry, but she was borderlining on depression. Not even Mitchell would have known how much she needed Buddy.
Steven smiled at the thought. Mitchell would have been able to bring her out of this. He had been Jack-Jack's advisor, going to him whenever he couldn't figure out what Zacathia would have wanted. He had always been more than happy to help, even till his dying day he was giving Jack-Jack advice.
Once, Steven had asked why Mitchell didn't just use his powers to keep himself alive infinatly, and Mitchell had smiled, answering;
"Because one lifetime is enough for me. Some would give anything for a second one, to redo things, knowing what to, what not to do." It hadn't made sense to him then, but now he did. He'd never want to have to re-live his life. Now he knew why Buddy and Zacathia could get so frustrated at times. They were in the bodies of twenty-five year olds, even though they had been alive for a hundred-plus years.
Steven smiled, walking down the hallway towards Zacathia's room. He needed her to come out of her room, she couldn't just stay there hoping that Buddy would come back, because he most likely wouldn't if she stayed shut up for the rest of her life.
Knocking lightly on the door, he found the door wasn't locked. Steven went in curious. Zacathia never left her bedroom door unlocked. Looking in, he saw that she wasn't even in there. She was gone.
" 'Bout time." He said to himself, smiling.
Zacathia looked at her tracer watch, hoping to see the blip that would show where Buddy was. She knew it wouldn't show, but she still hoped.
"Where are you?" she asked herself, looking at a passing car. She was on the sidewalk, thinking she'd notice something more easily. And she did.
She saw someone fly from one roof to another, using very familiar rocket boots.
"Buddy." She whispered, running towards the building. Using her powers, she flew herself up to the top of the building, landing on the roof. It was very clean for a roof.
Looking around her, she couldn't see anyone.
"I know I saw someone come up here." She said to herself, frowing. She pulled on her computerized sunglasses, and turned on the infa-red scanning. She quickly found what she was looking for. There was someone hiding in the ventilator ducts going into the building. Smiling, she walked over a pulled the grate off it, only to find someone she didn't expect.
"Alex!" She exclaimed, pulling him out. "At least Steven will be happy." she thought to herself, looking at his frail body. He was in bad shape, Outcast hadn't been taking very good care of him, that at least was obvious. Alex had scratches all over his arms, and he was breathing in short gasps.
"I'll get you home." She said to him, even though she knew he was unconcious. Looking up at the sky, a tear fell from her eye. At least that was one down, one still to go.
"Where are you Buddy?" She asked the sky, another tear falling as she looked away and carried Alex away, using her powers to help support his body.
